


Nightshade Blossom

by N_T_L



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Minor Violence, One Shot, flower peddling is serious business, you decide if it's really an AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:35:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24560029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/N_T_L/pseuds/N_T_L
Summary: Life in the slums of Midgar is not easy on anyone, and flower girls get no exemption.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Nightshade Blossom

**Nightshade Blossom**

"Sir, a flower for you? For your beloved maybe?"

A pleasant smile, a friendly voice.

"Only five Gil a piece."

"Oh my, these are almost as beautiful as you, my dear."

Her good looks were a big plus, but that alone wasn't enough to secure success on this level. A charming, thankful smile. Clumsy fingers trying to attach a flower to his jacket. An incidental touch on his arm to top off her performance. You had to give it to her, she was playing her role almost perfectly. The flower girl obviously didn't realize she was being watched, though. Otherwise, she wouldn't have such an easy time flirting with her customers and keeping up her act.

"I'll take three."

"Oh, thank you so much!"

She handed him two more flowers, one white, one yellow. The moment he turned around to vanish into the evening crowd, she had already put away the money and forgotten all about him. Her face all business, she scanned the stream of pedestrians for her next customer. Once she spotted a target, her face lit up in fake cheerfulness again.

And the game begann anew.

Almost all of them were male and on their way back home from work. And all of them were startled when they first noticed her. Maybe because of the basket full of flowers, or maybe it was the color of her dress. Possibly both. The streets around the Sector 4 station weren't as rundown as other places in the lower half of Midgar, but they were still a part of the slums. Bright, natural colors were not an everyday sight. Neither were girls making money on the street in such an innocent manner. The effect was plain to see: business was going very well for her.

Once the rush hour crowd thinned away, the flower girl also withdrew herself from the main road. The sensible thing would have been to take the next train home. Instead, she purchased a sandwich and a potion at a vending machine and settled down on some boxes in an out-of-sight alleyway. She didn't even finish her dinner before she began counting her day's earnings in the light of lonely street lamp illuminating the small street. Her happy face made it obvious, she had made even more than she had anticipated.

"They pay well here, don't they?"

Startled, the girl put her wallet into her basket almost by reflex, before she looked up. All color left her face as she realized who had just spoken to her.

"Aerith!"

As if summoned by her name, Aerith stepped into the light. She let her staff scrape along the ground, making an ominous sound.

"Hello, Rosa," said Aerith, taking her time with every word. Her smile was everything but friendly. "Such a nice dress you're wearing today."

Rosa jumped to her feet. "I-It's not what it looks like!"

"Really? That's quite the relief." Aerith stepped close to Rosa, her smile vanishing. "Because you know, silly me was quite convinced you're intruding on my turf - again. Despite my explicit warning the other day."

"It was just this last time, Aerith, I swear." Rosa was struggling for words, avoiding her gaze. "I-I just needed some spending mon-"

"That's not the issue here, my dear Rosa," interrupted Aerith. "I could look past that. Even though you already told me last time, it would be the final exception."

Rosa starred guiltily at the the floor.

"My problem is, there are too many of you around now. You are making business harder for me. If it were just about me, maybe I could turn a blind eye to all this. But Mom isn't that young anymore. I need to take good care of her." Aerith put a finger under Rosa's chin and made her look into her eyes. "You don't want my Mom to be unwell, do you?"

"N-No," said Rosa meekly, her voice all but a whisper.

"I knew you'd be reasonable. So, how do you propose you'll make it up to me?"

Aerith gave Rosa a moment to come up with an offer on her own, but all she got was awkward silence. Finally Aerith extended an open hand towards the other girl.

"How about you give me all the money you made today. That will make me forgive you - this time."

Rosa looked at Aerith for a long moment, then sighed and got her wallet out from under the remaining flowers in her basket. But instead of handing over her money, she suddenly threw the basket at Aerith's face. Aerith had expected it, though. She deflected the improvised projectile with the upper end of her staff and then quickly thrust the other end between Rosa's feet, who had tried running away from her. Crying out in surprise, Rosa stumbled and fell to the ground hard.

"That's too bad, Rosa," said Aerith, as white and yellow petals were drifting down around her. She stepped up and knelt down to the groaning girl. She yanked the wallet from Rosa's hand and put it away in her jacket, before standing up again. "I really thought you'd be smart enough to at least make up for one of your transgressions."

Still on the ground, Rosa turned around and looked up to Aerith in confusion. A single flower had landed on Aerith's shoulder. She picked it up and threw it a Rosa's feet.

"You've been to my church."

Terror filled Rosa's face. "No, that's not true. Those are-"

Merciless, Aerith smashed her staff into Rosa's mouth, shattering a row of teeth. Rosa barely had the time to scream, when Aerith whirled her weapon around, striking Rosa's face, breaking her nose with an nasty crack. The blow threw the prone girl around to her stomach, a fountain of blood shooting out of her face. Rosa was wailing in pain, the sound muffled by the hands holding her ruined face.

"Don't think you can fool me," hissed Aerith. "I know those are my flowers. There is one thing you and the other copycats fail to realize."

Aerith squatted down next to Rosa, grabbing her hair and pulling her head back. She studied Rosa's bloodied face for a moment, before whispering directly into her ear.

"There's nothing you can hide from me. The planet is on my side. He tells me everything I need to know."

She pushed Rosa's head back into the ground and got up again.

"Unfortunately, it seems my words are wasted on you thieving bitches. I guess it's time for a different kind of message. Maybe at least the others will get it this time."

Horrified Rosa looked up as Aerith raised her staff and went to work.

* * *

Scowling, Aerith was standing in her church, taking in the damage done to the flowerbed.

It seemed the thief had started out trying to be inconspicuous at first, only picking single flowers from different spots. But then she - Aerith had no doubts about the thief's gender - must have gotten into a hurry. Or it had been simple greed. Either way, there were now multiple barren spots glaring back at her, defacing the flowerbed. She didn't think the children playing around here all the time were at fault. They had learned soon enough not to cross her, and that the easiest - and most painless - way to get some flowers was doing Aerith the occasional favor. But maybe they had witnessed something.

It had only been a few weeks since Rosa had been found. Alive, but she would probably never be able to walk again; or talk; or even feed herself. Her fate had served its purpose though: ever since her 'accident', no other flower girl had dared to invade Aerith's territory or even steal her flowers. Business was going great.

At least it had been. Then, just the other day, Tseng had warned her about the others Turks being on the lookout for her again. That had limited her sphere of operations drastically. And of course it hadn't taken long until her absence was noticed by her competitors. She had expected it, and planed to take care of it once the Turks had other tasks to occupy them again. However, an attack on her inventory in such a brazen manner was insulting and demanded an immediate answer. Even if it meant taking some risks.

With a sigh, Aerith set down to mend the worst of the damage. She was planning the first steps of her retribution, when suddenly a loud crack rang from above; a young man in familiar uniform crashed through the roof, taking parts of it with him; right into her flowerbed.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't you mess with Aerith! ;-)
> 
> So yeah, AU obviously. It's not my headcanon that pre-game Aerith is roaming Midgar, shaking down other flower girls. But I had this dark, little idea some day and couldn't help but write it down.


End file.
